‘Demeaning Our Own Values’

The diatribe by Richard Goodwin (Editorial Pages, July 10), “Demeaning Our Own Values,” was a refreshing bit of fluff, a cool and delicious rehash of antique liberal attitudes. It’s wonderful how the outlook of the liberal intellectual community changes so little from decade to decade, or even century to century.

This caterwauling over the plight of the Poor and its corollary, the obscene amassing of wealth by the vicious Rich, is word for word what we heard in the 1960s and the 1950s, the 1940s, right on back to probably indignant speeches in the Forum.

But Goodwin is conspicuously silent about the great and monumental failure of his class: the then Department of Health, Education and Welfare and all the associated War Against Poverty programs so vociferously advocated 20 years ago. He studiously avoids the potent question: What has happened to the billions and billions--many billions--of tax dollars that have been spent on these programs?

Could it be, perhaps, that Goodwin and his compeers, bigots to their dedicated souls, can only see what they want to see? Are they perhaps more human than they would care to admit?

Certainly they are human enough to refuse, under any circumstances, to admit that they made a terrible mistake. Never shall any of this fraternity, card-carrying intellectuals all, look askance at their wonderful child, the social-spending monster. Anything wrong with the system lies in the Administration, the Reagan-gutting, the arrant caprice of destructive conservatives, and so forth. To say the obvious, that the War Against Poverty was a success only for administrators, bureaucrats and politicians, will be opposed to the last gasping breath.

At any rate, we are presently going through yet another phase of the old shell game, “Let’s Help the Worthy Poor.” Despite the billions already wasted and the billions more in the pipeline, Goodwin’s group is hard at it again.

There is one and only one subgroup of human society that keeps the wheels turning, holds society together, and generates wealth: that small portion of the Rich, which all intellectuals despise so heartily. They direct and control those amongst us who are willing to work for a living: the middle class and those of the poor who are working their way out of the ghetto.

Everyone else, the parasites among the Rich, those in the entertainment industry, in advertising, politics, law and the rest, merely consume. Except for the Poor, of course.

Of course the main portion of the wealth goes to the wealthy. Why should it not? They are willing to work for it, and while it is true that a great gaggle of parasites go along with them--their wives, children, lawyers, cocaine dealers and other scum--this productive subculture does work very hard for their wealth.

If the Poor don’t like it, then let them get an education and join the monopoly. It can be done, you know. Quite easily. But it takes work and dedication and effort.

But our Mr. Goodwin never addresses this. He fulminates endlessly on the viciousness of the Class War, and bleeds copiously for the Poor.

GERALD L. HEWETT

Inyokern